Recently, consumers have expressed significant interest in “place shifting” devices that allow viewing of television or other media content at locations other than their primary television set. Placeshifting devices typically packetize media content that can be transmitted over a local or wide area network to a portable computer, mobile phone, personal digital assistant, remote television or other remote device capable of playing back the packetized media stream for the viewer. Placeshifting therefore allows consumers to view their media content from remote locations such as other rooms, hotels, offices, and/or any other locations where portable media player devices can gain access to a wireless or other communications network.
One class of portable media player devices that can receive a placeshifted media stream are mobile devices, such as cellphones, smartphones, tablet computers, PDAs, and the like. A mobile device is a handheld device that allows users to access information, keep track of their busy schedules, and communicate with others. These devices are becoming more and more ubiquitous because they help users manage their busy schedules, as well as communicate with the world. A typical mobile device can function as a mobile or cellular phone, internet-enabled device, and personal organizer.
Currently, when using a mobile device to view placeshifted media, during short interrupts like phone calls, network changeovers/drops, etc., the placeshifting session is terminated and streaming experience is interrupted. When the user returns to streaming, he/she loses the video to be watched as the streaming session is recreated afresh. As such, there is a continuing need in the art for systems and methods that allow for a better user streaming experience using mobile devices with place shifting devices in the event of a data streaming interrupt event. It would be desirable to provide such methods and apparatus that allow the user to resume the streaming experience from the point of interruption without having to restart/start over at the beginning of the media content, or to re-initiate the data connection with the placeshifting device. These and other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background section.